Elisa Zied

Blog

Welcome to my Food, Fitness & Fiction blog! You can subscribe to my blog via RSS feed. If you’re interested in being a guest blogger or would like me to take a look at your book or product for a possible review/feature on the blog, please email me at elisa@elisazied.com. Enjoy!

Avocado Lovers, Unite!

This is my take on a popular Chilean dish, Palta Reina, suggested by our friend, Pamela Navarro-Watson. The avocados make a beautiful presentation for a hot summer night, and the best part is that no cooking is required! The avocados can also be stuffed with chicken, shrimp or crab salad instead of the tuna. Serve them with a sliced tomato salad and a baguette.

(Start the tomato salad first, if you are making it.) In a medium bowl, combine the tuna, mayonnaise and bell pepper (or celery).

Cut the avocados in half lengthwise, remove the pits, and sprinkle them with lemon juice and salt. Fill the avocados with the tuna salad, mounding the tuna. You can eat the salad and avocado flesh right out of the avocado skin bowl.

Scramble Flavor Booster: Add the zest of 1 lemon to the tuna or sprinkle them with lemon pepper seasoning.

Tip: Chunk light tuna is much lower in mercury than albacore tuna. It’s also high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids.

SERVE WITH SLICED TOMATO SALAD & BAGUETTE

To make a sliced tomato salad, lay 2-3 sliced tomatoes on a serving plate, and top them with 1/8 – 1/4 of a yellow onion, minced (1/4 – 1/2 cup), 1 – 2 Tbsp. crumbled feta cheese and drizzle everything with 1-3 tsp. vinaigrette salad dressing, or to taste. Add 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil to the salad, if desired.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and warm the baguette(s) for 5-7 minutes. Alternatively, brush thin slices of the baguette with olive oil and toast or broil them for a few minutes until they are lightly browned and crispy.

This is a versatile and tangy meal. If your kids don’t eat salad, make a separate platter for them with all the healthy and delicious ingredients, such as the corn, beans, chicken, hard-boiled eggs (make a few extra), and cheese. To make this salad even easier, you can use store-bought ranch or vinaigrette dressing (or a combination). Serve it with warm tortillas. (My husband, Andrew, likes his salad wrapped in a tortilla with a little extra dressing drizzled on it.)

Prep + Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4 · serving size: about 2 1/4 cups

Ingredients for main dish

1 small head romaine lettuce, chopped (6 cups total)

1-2 cups canned black beans

1 cup cooked chicken breast, or black beans

1/4 red onion or red bell pepper, finely diced (1/2 cup)

1 1/2 ripe avocados, peeled and diced

1 cup corn kernels, fresh, frozen or canned

1/2 cup diced or shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese

1 egg, hard-boiled, sliced

3 Tbsp. nonfat or low fat sour cream

1-2 limes, juice only, 1/4 cup

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. honey

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

hot pepper sauce such as Tabasco, to taste (optional)

Ingredients for side dish – TORTILLAS

4-8 whole wheat, flour or corn tortillas

Hard boil the egg, if necessary, cool and slice it. Put the lettuce in the bottom of a large serving bowl. Top it with the remaining salad ingredients (thaw the frozen corn, if you are using it), using only one avocado.

In a medium bowl, make the dressing by whisking together the sour cream, 1/2 avocado, the lime juice, salt, honey, olive oil, and hot pepper sauce (optional).

Just before you are ready to serve it, toss the salad with about 1/2 the dressing, then add more to taste.

Scramble Flavor Booster: Use the red onion in the salad and the hot sauce in the dressing.

Tip: If your avocadoneeds some quick ripening, here’s a great trick. Put the avocado in a brown lunch-type bag and stick it in the oven with the heat off. Turn on your oven light and let the bag sit in the oven for an hour. (Set the timer so you don’t forget about it!) The heat generated by the oven light as well as the darkness of the brown bag will help speed up the ripening process.

SERVE WITH TORTILLAS

Serve it with warm wheat, flour or corn tortillas. I usually cover the tortillas with a damp paper towel and heat them in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on how many I am heating.

About The Author

Elisa Zied is a nationally recognized registered dietitian nutritionist, author, speaker, and spokesperson. A trusted source of food, nutrition, and health information, Elisa has garnered millions of media impressions, lending her expertise and real-world perspective to dozens of TV shows, web sites, news organizations and magazines. She’s the author of four nutrition books and is currently working on her first novel. You can find her previous Food, Fitness & Fiction posts here and connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook.